In the constitutions of several countries, impeachment is the first of two stages in a specific process for a legislative body to remove a government official without that official's agreement.

Furthermore, impeachment as a means of punishment for wrongdoing, as distinct from being a means of removing a minister, remains a valid reason for accepting that is continues to be available, at least in theory.

Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature which allows for formal charges to be brought against a high official of government for conduct committed in office.

Impeachment proceedings may be commenced by a member House of Representatives on his or her own initiative by either presenting a listing of the charges under oath, or by placing a resolution in the hopper for referral to the appropriate committee.

The impeachment of PresidentBill Clinton arose from a series of events following the filing of a lawsuit on May 6, 1994, by Paula Corbin Jones in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

After Congressman Hyde read the Articles of Impeachment approved by the House, the Senate then adjourned, reconvening later that day with Chief Justice Rehnquist present, who was sworn in as presiding officer for the trial and who in turn swore in the 100 senators as jurors for the proceedings.

The Senate voted on the Articles of Impeachment on February 12, with a two-thirds majority, or 67 Senators, required to convict.

While impeachment is a political, not a legal, operation, it does seem clear that a very strong legal case can be made that Bush and Cheney knowingly lied to Congress about the reasons for war.

The public policy grounds for impeachment (including the long-term effects of failure to hold the executive accountable for constitutional violations) are of equal significance, and we will discuss them in a separate statement." (See also Bernard Weiner: Suppose...: Arguments for an Impeachment Resolution).

Though it's true that impeachment of both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney would be an extreme step, this constitutional option must be judged against the alternative of a continued national leadership that is facing worsening crises while known for a trademark refusal to admit mistakes or to make meaningful adjustments to its policies.

Impeachment was designed as a mechanism for removing from office a person who had demonstrated the kind of political irresponsibility that seriously threatened the nation's political institutions -- and whose continuation in office was so dangerous that waiting until the next election couldn't be tolerated.

Impeachment gave the Parliament a means of removing an unfit leader who somehow retained the king's confidence.

Nixon left office before the impeachment process was concluded, but he did so because he knew that he didn't have much support even within the Republican Party anymore, and Clinton was not convicted by the Senate at least in part because he had essentially unified support from his own party.

Impeachment has the advantage of bypassing the U.S. Supreme Court, which illegally installed Bush in the Oval Office.

Unfortunately for the impeachment campaign, Armey has retired and Barr, who spoke out against some of the most draconian proposals for what eventually became the USA PATRIOT Act, was defeated in the Republican primary.

Second, demand impeachment by engaging in non-violent direct action, in exercise of your First Amendment rights to free speech, peaceable assembly and petition for redress of grievances.

The impeachment rules were drafted in 1868 for the trial of PresidentAndrew Johnson, overhauled in 1974 in anticipation of a trial of Richard M. Nixon that never happened and formally adopted in their current form in 1986 as the Senate geared up for its first impeachment in 50 years, of Judge Harry Claiborne.

Under the Senateimpeachment rules, the presiding officer rules on "all question of evidence," including "relevancy, materiality and redundancy." But he can be reversed by a majority vote of the Senate.

Although the senators are required by the rules to behave as the political equivalent of potted plants during the impeachment trial, they can submit for the record written statements describing the reasons for their votes for or against conviction.

Impeachments of Federal Officials - The procedure for the impeachment of federal officials is detailed in Article I, Section 3, of the...

A report card on the impeachment: judging the institutions that judged PresidentClinton.

Conflicts of commitment: legal ethics in the impeachment context.

www.infoplease.com /ce6/history/A0825038.html (438 words)

Impeach Prime Minister Tony Blair for misleading Parliament and the British people(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-20)

The report which is co-authored by academics Glen Rangwala and Dan Plesch presents evidence that the Prime Minister deliberately distorted the intelligence assessments available to him in order to deceive the public and Parliament over the case for war, and recommends that impeachment procedures are begun against the Prime Minister for this misconduct.

As the councillors explain, Tony Blair himself pointed out that law and order in our communities depends on people who break the rules being punished, and if the leader of the country can get away with it, then it is a license to every yob and bent official in the country.

Click here to order the impeachment book: contains "A Case to Answer" by Dan Plesch and Glen Rangwala; the legal opinion on the impeachment of the Prime Minister by Rabinder Singh QC and Professor Conor Gearty of Matrix; and a foreword by Adam Price MP.

Comparing Clinton's misbehavior to a destructive and costly war occupation launched in March 2003 under false pretenses in violation of domestic and international law certainly merits introduction of an impeachment resolution.

If this is answered affirmatively Bush and Cheney have committed ''high crimes and misdemeanors." It is time for Congress to investigate the illegal Iraq war as we move toward the third year of the endless quagmire that many security experts believe jeopardizes US safety by recruiting and training more terrorists.

A modified form of these Articles of Impeachment may be found here, on the website of VoteToImpeach.org, along with Ramsey Clark's Notes on Impeachment.

Collectively, these failures justify the resignation  or impeachment  of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, who are ultimately responsible for the failure of their Administration to protect the American people.

What the world has watched instead is a comprehensive and malicious assault upon the integrity of the international legal order by a group of men and women who are thoroughly Machiavellian in their perception of international relations and in their conduct of both foreign policy and domestic affairs.